The market has talked about having software defined networks to make communications as virtualized and flexible as the computing infrastructure, now this versatility will become an expectation.

As organizations inch their way out of this incessant economic downturn, they will need new techniques that give greater insight on performance and satisfaction. This means that IT organizations will need to expand their definition of “customer” to include suppliers, partners, consumers and anything/one that can make a difference. 2013 will be a year where the constraints of the past need to be broken and organizations will be expected to look beyond whatever hinders innovation and the generation of greater value.

We can expect to see bigger data and even bigger storage, with copious amounts of information coming from more sensors in more places. Organizations will no longer be satisfied with using only 3-5% of the data available. Beyond being more of it, the information collected will be of a wider variety (including video, sound…) so transforming the information from one format to another and back will be increasingly important. I think more importantly – there will be a greater understanding and expectations of the value of the metadata – who is sending what to whom, when and what is the driving intent. After all, people do not really make decisions based on the data, they make decisions based on the context the data describes. The expertise for those that understand both the information and how it can be applied to the business goals of the day will be in highest demand. The whole concept of ‘In Memory’ computing will be up for a shift in expectations for where and how it is used – although that one might need to wait for 2014.

We’ll also see these devices in the field used for more functions – like the wide spread acceptance of new and improved NFC capabilities for payment and identity. The Internet of Things (IoT) will become just the Internet. Individuals will be able to add IoT capabilities independent of the original manufacturer, if desired. Although enterprises may still be crawling their way to the IoT, consumers will embrace IoT in 2013.

I also fully expect a couple of different disruptive display technologies in 2013 to shift our thinking about where and when a display is needed (or even possible).

One of the other core shifts in expectation will be around simplicity. The current solutions are just too complex. We can’t skimp on security, connectivity and collaboration, yet the interface needs to be made simpler, not ever more visibly complex. Attention engineering techniques that I’ve been talking about for about a decade will become more prevalent, since they will address the scarcity of this scarce resource. This expectation will be fueled by the IoT, big data, computing and new display technologies. We’ll see this talked about more explicitly in 2013.

That is where the issue of scarcity and abundance becomes so important in 2013. We need to maximize the use of what’s abundant to maximize the value of what’s scarce – do even more with more. Organizations need to start to look for, measure and actively address these resource consumption issues.

Mobility – will move beyond smart phones into other experience access points. I fully expect that this means IT will begin to see ways to virtualize the mobile experience in new, secure and innovative ways. It’s about the access to the corporate information, not about the device and when it is about devices, it is about the personal cloud of devices, not just one.

Big Data – for me this was the big buzz word of 2012. The concerns will move beyond the raw data and focus will turn to the metadata, mentioned above. As mentioned earlier - context is king. The skills within the organization will be a tremendous constraint and the diversity of skills will extend as well. Gamification, as an example, is a skill that will be recognized and move hand-in-hand with a big data strategy.

One area where I believe expectations will shift tremendously in 2013 is in a new understanding of personalization. Using the contextual information available from big data and the need for attention engineering, individuals and corporations will have greater expectation on how information is delivered to them. Although 2013 may be too soon, there will also be a shift in how products are personalized as 3D printing moves out of limited use and becomes significantly more mainstream with some parts of the world having 3D printing capabilities as a local service. 3D printing helps address the fact that the cost of transportation is going to have an increased impact on who, makes what where. This may be even further out, but the concept of personalized medicine, tuned to an individual’s genetic makeup will be in the news much more in 2013. All of these things are variations of a shift in understanding and expectation of what personalization will really mean.

Although nothing ever really goes away in IT, there will be some areas that IT organizations will see reduced demand. One will be the bare metal OS. It is almost gone on servers and I fully expect that in 2013 you’ll see it head for the exit on phones and other non-dedicated mobile devices. Virtualization just makes too much sense at so many levels. IPV4 is another technology whose time is waning. Sure it will be around for a very long time – forever! But the excuses to not implement IPV6 may have run their course and now is the time.

Big data, Cloud and Mobility with the corresponding storages and processing speeds are well good to note. A lot more MUST be invested in the security of the the data transacted in the three above mentioned. The level of security in these areas especially when it comes to Banking industry is worth taking note off.

However I am a strong believer in moving huge data processing and storage to the cloud and accesability of the same through devices should be swift. We will expect that and more.

Good article, Charlie. I certainly agree that organisations are going to want more and more data but want to try to get this through cloud based applications, either because of cost or mobility. We are finding that some are trying to convert to such applications and being disappointed with the results because internet speeds are not fast enough to deal with data rich applications or they have to upgrade all their hardware.

The problem is that people's expectations are increasing faster than the technology (and relative cost) to keep up with it. The year of expectations will only increase this I fear...

i agree with comments and prediction big changes in mobile devices and storage system and data there is very little today that cant be achieved with a little help and hard work to stay strong in anything inovation and support are key